ORTYX PLUMIFERA, Gould. 
Ori. capite, nucha, pectoreque intense cinereis; plumis duabus gracilibus et subpendentibus e vertice nigris ; gulA intensd 
castaned ad latera linea alM circumdatd, infra oculos notd nigrd ; loro sordide albo ; corpore superiore olivaceo-fusco ; 
rectricibus caudee fuscis nigro irroratis ; alce primariis brunneis, pogoniis externis, pallidioribus ; abdominis lateribus 
intensi castaneis ; suprd lined albd marginatis ; infrd fasciis nigris atque albis ornatis ; abdomine medio crissoqtie 
castaneis ; rostro nigro ; pedibus pallidi-brunnescentibus. 
Long. tot. 9|- une . ; rostri, f ; alve 5 ^ ; caudae, 3 ^ ; tarsi. If. 
Crowai of the head, back of the neck, and chest deep ash grey ; a plume consisting of two long slender arched 
feathers rising from the vei’tex of the head, black ; throat deep chestnut, bounded on the sides by a line of 
white, and immediately under the eye by a small patch of black ; space between the bill and the eye dirty 
white ; all the upper surface olive brown ; tail-feathers broum freckled with a darker tint ; prunaries brown 
margined with a hghter tint ; sides and abdomen deep chestnut, the outer line of feathers above being edged 
with white ; on each side of the abdominal line the feathers are strongly and elegantly mai'ked Avith alternate 
bands of black and white. 
The female or young male differs from the adult male in being less in size, in having the plumage less bright, and 
in having the plumes on the crown of the head considerably shorter. 
Oi'tyx plumifera, Gould, in Proc. of Zool. Soc., Part V. 1837. 
Having been always particularly interested with this New World group, it was with almost Inexpressible 
pleasure that I hailed the arrival of this lovely s[)ecles of Orty^c, three specimens of which formed a part of the 
ornithological collection of the late Mr. David Douglas, which collection was forwarded to England shortly 
after his lamentable death and was finally consigned to the Museum of the Zoological Society of London ; 
and it is to the Council of that Society that I am indebted for permission to figure this species in the present 
work. 
Had the gentleman who procured this valuable addition to our ornithological stores been permitted to 
return to his native land, we should doubtless have been jnit in possession of some details respecting its 
history, which deficiency I am unable to supply ; and in all probability a considerable period will elapse 
before another equally intrepid traveller and enthusiastic naturalist will, solely for the love of science, risk 
his life in pursuit of the unknown treasures of the little-explored regions of California, of which this bird is 
a native. 
The plumed crests with which all the members of this group are ornamented is in no instance so much 
developed as in the present species, in which this peculiar character would appear to have reached its 
maximum ; and if we may be allowed to conjecture, other species will yet be discovered in which the crest- 
feathers will not be so long nor assume so narrow and lanceolate a form. 
In their habits, manners, and food the members of this group closely assimilate to the Quails and Partridges 
of the Old World, but differ from them in possessing the jiower of perching on trees, which they are con- 
stantly in the habit of doing. 
Habitat California. 
The figures are of the natural size. 
